Although we have long admired the event from afar, Bostonist experienced its very first Define-a-Thon last night at the Boston Public Library. Houghton Mifflin, the sponsor, dared us to participate, and we took them up on it.

There weren't many people at the event at Rabb Hall, perhaps thanks to Define-a-Thon burnout (October 8 through 14 was Define-a-Thon week) and the lack of booze at the BPL. We knew it wasn’t the right time or venue to ask moderator and American Heritage Dictionary Senior Editor Steve Kleinedler to show off his vowel-chart tattoo.

The booze might have helped temper Bostonist's fears. The Define-a-Thon stage looks exactly like what you see on the televised National Spelling Bee, with a microphone in the center and the seats on the sides. We felt like that kid who passed out right in front of the cameras at the bee.

More on the Define-a-Thon after the jump! Bostonist's camera blew out, so this video is in honor of our favorite spelling bee contestant ever. YouTube video posted by leeaison.

When the participants were seated, Kleinedler began by giving each contestant a multiple-choice question. He would give a definition, followed by four options for the answer. The first round was easy, and Bostonist received the definition for "decimate"--which we were hoping to do to the competition!

But the rounds rapidly increased in difficulty. Kleinedler admitted that the last round would be "insanely hard." Boston Magazine blogger Amy Derjue was there as well, and we both started to sweat at words like "monotreme," "quiescent," and "mirepoix."

Bostonist made it to the last round, but the winner, Howard Golick, of Brighton, who was confident about every single answer, easily took the prize, a copy of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

If you're interested in hosting a Define-a-Thon party of your own, you can get a Define-a-Thon Kit from the Houghton Mifflin website.